A hard-fought race 1 crowns Marvin Klein on Saturday of the fourth round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in Imola. The Frenchman from Target Competition got off to a good start from pole and after holding the lead at the start he resisted for a long time the continuous attacks of Keagan Masters and immediately behind Francesco Braschi, always aggressive in the moments of “racing” between the various safety cars used by the race direction to resolve the various situations of track exits that occurred in a race characterized by numerous duels.
The third neutralization (decided for the exit into the gravel at Tamburello of the rookie Matteo Segre also involving Steven Giacon) was also the one that effectively froze the order of arrival in the last two laps. Klein thus passed under the checkered flag, while Masters at that point had no more chance to attack his rival.
The South African from Team Q8 Hi Perform therefore had to settle for second on the podium and the additional point obtained for the fastest lap (1’44″545 on lap 5) still allowed him to further close the gap in the standings on the absent leader Larry Ten Voorde.
Obviously, a similar argument also applies to Klein, while Simone Iaquinta once again appears on the third step of the podium, third for the first time this season after a race where he was on the up following a less than optimal start that saw him finish the first lap in sixth position from fourth.
Behind the two leaders, the Prima Ghinzani driver got the better of Braschi when the second safety car brought him closer to the Dinamic Motorsport driver, who then went long at the restart and was forced to pit with obvious problems.
Penalized in qualifying and therefore demoted from pole to sixth place, Lirim Zendeli concluded his “crazy” highly competitive Saturday in fourth place. The German from Ombra Racing made a perfect start, thanks to which he had started chasing the podium, but an excursion into the gravel of the Variante Alta pushed him back into the very aggressive group battling between the top-5 and top-10, from which he then managed to re-emerge, finishing at the foot of the podium and, with Braschi now out of the game, with the victory in the new Rookie classification in his pocket.
He showed excellent management of the most hectic phases and the safety cars Benjamin Paque. The 19-year-old Belgian from Target Competition, making his debut in the Carrera Cup Italia, always remained attached to the train of the best and despite conceding something to the “fury” of Iaquinta and Zendeli, he obtained important points for the Alto-Atesino team, completing the top-5 thanks to a truly solid and concrete performance.
Nicholas Pujatti also proved to be one of the best in the race, still 16 years old, who took the 911 GT3 Cup of Villorba Corse to sixth place after starting from the tenth position on the grid. A decisive comeback characterized by some nice overtaking maneuvers, demonstrating a further step in maturity taken by the driver from Pordenone.
The rookie of the Venetian team (2nd behind Zendeli in the category standings) never gave up in the brawls that decreed the rest of the top-10, preceding two senators such as Diego Bertonelli (The Driving Experiences) and Alberto Cerqui (BeDriver), while another youngster, the Australian Bayley Hall, also a BeDriver standard-bearer, finished ninth, also paying for a long lap, and preceding Aldo Festante (Dinamic Motorsport) in the top-10.
Race 1 at Imola was really hard fought also in Michelin Cup, whose final standings are completely changed compared to qualifying. First of all, it is worth noting the success of Alberto De Amicis, who despite the excellent second place grabbed in a comeback by Francesco Fenici for the first time this season jumps to the lead in the championship.
The reigning champion and Ebimotors representative managed to stay out of trouble and took the lead on lap 9 after the temporary leader Gianluca Giorgi (BeDriver), who got off to a great start, ended up in the gravel at Acque Minerali, following a duel with Segre.
The episode, shortly after the halfway point of the race, in addition to handing the lead of the category to De Amicis, also brought out the second safety car, while the first, deployed on lap 6, was due to a previous “brawl” involving other direct Michelin Cup opponents and in particular teammate Paolo Gnemmi.
With everyone fighting among themselves, in the moment in which the Lombard rider ended up spinning at the exit of Villeneuve, perhaps due to contact, Alex De Giacomi (Tsunami RT) and Stefano Stefanelli (Team Malucelli) were involved, both forced to retire.
Gnemmi instead lost positions in favor of Horia-Traia Chirigut, who took advantage of the various chaotic phases to finish third and surprisingly on the Michelin Cup podium for the first time with Villorba Corse, and Ilarione Introna, fourth with Prima Ghinzani right in front of Gnemmi.
Starting from the category pole, after a good start in the podium positions, Cesare Brusa was not particularly lucky in the various phases. Also a Prima Ghinzani representative, the driver from Bergamo had to settle for sixth place in the final standings.
Tomorrow is the Sunday of race 2, scheduled for 12.00 always live and on demand on Dazn (with subscription or also free) and in live streaming on www.carreracupitalia.it. In pole position, with a chance to make up for today’s penalty-mockery on the grid, will be Zendeli, flanked on the front row by Klein.
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